Word: humana
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Humana's heart program is an example of how a corporation can use its resources to develop a new field of medicine. Its Heart Institute had been open less than a year when the company decided in June to work on the mechanical heart. Institute Director Allan Lansing, an open-heart surgeon, had told Jones that Dr. William DeVries, who performed the first permanent artificial-heart implant, on Barney Clark at the University of Utah in 1982, might be willing to come to Louisville to pursue his research...
With Jones' support, Lansing courted DeVries as ardently as any coach ever wooed an All-Stars pitcher or a Super Bowl quarterback. Lansing said that DeVries would benefit from a substantial clinical practice and a first-rate surgical support team. To help convince DeVries, Humana flew him and his wife to Louisville. At a dinner on the porch of Lansing's home, Jones asked DeVries, "How many hearts do you need to find out if it works? Would ten be enough?" As a flabbergasted DeVries indicated that ten would be good, Jones added, "If ten's enough...
...unprecedented offer, and DeVries' acceptance, shook the hospital community. Some medical researchers are merely envious, but others have a variety of reasons for concern. "There is a significant anti-Humana feeling out there," says Nolen Allen, former chairman of the University of Louisville hospital. "But it is not just Humana. Doctors sense that they are losing control of medical care and that hospital administrators and companies are taking over. At one time, the doctors were kings. That may not be true any more; they are becoming more like employees." Agrees VenderHaar: "It's the same fear...
...drain. If star doctors and grant winners like DeVries can be lured away by conglomerates, what will keep the younger researchers in the universities? Says Dr. Don E. Detmer, vice president of health sciences at the University of Utah: "There's no question that if a place like Humana goes after our programs, we can't compete." Academics also wonder if the willingness of corporations like Humana to invest in research will make it harder for schools to win public funding. They fear that state legislatures and federal agencies may become more reluctant to spend limited resources...
...Humana prepared for its first artificial implant with a promotion campaign as elaborate as one that General Motors might use for launching a new model. Before the Schroeder operation, Humana public relations specialists consulted with officials at the University of Utah on the press interest that might be expected. The company rented space for a press headquarters in the Commonwealth Convention Center in downtown Louisville and produced seven informational videotapes about the operation...